NSRLP Responds to Bonkalo Review of Family Legal Services

The NSRLP has written two separate submissions to the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Law Society of Upper Canada in response to Justice Annemarie Bonkalo’s Review of Family Legal Services in Ontario. While we fully support all of Justice Bonkalo’s recommendations, our submissions address two specific recommendations, both of which have received a great deal of attention from the legal community:

1. The licensing of paralegals – This submission, drafted by NSRLP Director Julie Macfarlane and other members of the NSRLP team, addresses the criticisms directed at the recommendation to license paralegals to work on some family law cases. We strongly believe that this is a reasonable and desperately needed step, and have yet to see any objections strong enough to justify scrapping this measure. This submission can be read in its entirety here.

2. The use of limited scope retainers and legal coaching – This submission, drafted by NSRLP Research Fellow Nikki Gershbain, addresses Justice Bonkalo’s endorsement of unbundled legal services and legal coaching as valuable options in the menu of family legal services. This submission can be read in its entirety here.